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This Is It costumes: Cool or Tacky?

fraroc04

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I'm pretty sure you've seen the "The Gloved One" mini-documentary on the This Is It special features which glossed upon the outfits he was going to wear for TII. To say the least, they're pretty interesting....The mini-doc didn't go over each individual outfit for each song, but you had the idea that things were going to be way different than what they were for the Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory tours. For the first time, Michael was actually going to be changing his full costume from song to song as opposed to just changing his jacket and keeping the basis from other costumes (i.e wearing the Smooth Criminal blazer with the golden leotard or the golden spacesuit pants.)

Some of the costumes I liked...some I think were just way too tacky.

1. The Light Man suit: Okay, I think it looks really cool up close, but here's the problem. Zaldy REALLY over-did it with the crystals and all of these reflective surfaces mixed with bright stage lights would have been absolutely BLINDING. Hell, I can even imagine the reaction "MICHAEL!!! OH MY GOD MICHAEL!!! Wait...which bright, indiscernible blur is Michael?"

2. The J5 Medley suit: I think that the purple tuxedo itself is cool, but all of that crazy-looking shit on his shoulders really just looks very weird.

3. The Black Or White warrior jacket: Okay....what? Here's the deal, Black Or White is a very energetic song where Michael dances a lot. Why have him wear a heavy ten pound samurai jacket? Granted, it DOES look cool but here's the deal. The signature white button-down shirt is iconic and it's extremely light and comfortable for Michael to wear, especially for an energetic song like Black Or White. I can bet you if Michael lived, he'd give up on this jacket the first two gigs and wear it for a slower song like Will You Be There and just wear the white shirt for Black or White.

4. The Billie Jean light-up suit: THIS one, I really like. It doesn't stray away from the normal Billie Jean outfit, yet it's something totally different. Having the socks, tuxedo stripe, jacket and glove light up in different colors I find to be absolutely ingenious.

5. The new-generation Thriller jacket: Again, this is something too iconic to really change and I think the blood on the shoulders was a very cool idea.

6. Heal The World: I like the idea of having patchwork and embroidery from different countries a lot. I feel like this really worked with him.

7. Man In The Mirror: Okay....I really do NOT like this one. Zaldy explained it as a normal Michael Jackson military-esque jacket...but I'm sorry, it just looks really creepy. It seriously just looks like huge eyes are coming out of his chest.
 
Most of them were horribly tacky and umpractical, I prefer by a landslide the Balmain clothing Michael wore in the rehearsals. Bush and Tompkins understood perfectly his needs as a dancer and flattered his figure most of the times.
 
I feel like most of the outfits didn't really work.
WBSS: Too complex and I didn't like the big shoulders and the crystals.
J5: I liked it.
BOW: It's cool but it wouldn't have worked and as you said it's a energetic performance and the white shirt is iconic.
BJ: I liked it, really cool.
Thriller: I liked it also.
HTW: I didn't like it, too complex, I would've preferred a simpler jacket (like DT or HT)
MITM: I agree with you! Wouldn't really have fit with the song also.
I assume that the rest of the outfits would have been something similar to what he worn the other tours, and I would've been fine with it. The only costume I didn't liked from his tours are the WDAN Bad Tour and the WBBS Dangerous Tour.
 
Hard to say because we didn't see Michael wearing them. Billie Jean outfit concept with the lights sounded great. I didn't like how the stripe continued to the jacket.
 
WBSS: I thought it was pretty cool at first but looking at it again... a bit too bulky. Unless maybe the shoulders would only be there for when he comes out and then he takes them off for the actual song?

J5: Loved it! A nice shade of purple and I actually like the details on the shoulders.

BOW: Very cool looking but I agree, it looked awfully heavy. Would not work for that song given how energetic the performance of it usually is.

BJ: Awesome! This would've been amazing to see.

Thriller: Glad they stuck with the same design. The blood detail is kinda cool but it should've been a different color; it almost blends in with the color of the jacket and makes it hard to see. I would've made it a darker shade of red or hell, make it light up and animate it in a way that makes it look like the blood is dripping. That would've been a cool effect.

Heal the World: No. Just... no.

Man in the Mirror: It's kinda cool but it would not have been fitting for the song. If Michael wore this to like a private party or something that would've been fine, but as a concert outfit? Not so much.
 
Galactus123 said:
Hard to say because we didn't see Michael wearing them. Billie Jean outfit concept with the lights sounded great. I didn't like how the stripe continued to the jacket.
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Yeah. I think people would warm up to them more if we managed to see Michael performing in them. Certainly become more accustomed to them in action anyway.

I certainly like the look of most of them, they were fresh and sometimes quite "out there" in a good way. I even think of some of them are better than past costumes (mainly the Dangerous unitard, I've never really been keen on that outfit).
 
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I think all of the outfits that Bush & Zaldy did were awesome in my opinion.

The Swarovski crystal suit for WBSS is my personal favorite of the NEW This Is It outfits. I still remember seeing that image of MJ trying on the big crystallized shoulder pads for the first (and only) time with a big grin on his face.

I also particularly love the new updates on the classic outfits. The Billie Jean jacket & glove with the LEDS was a genius idea and they even adapted that concept for some outfits in the Immortal World Tour. I also love the Thriller jacket with the embroidered blood on the shoulders. There was also a design inside the jacket that Zaldy said MJ never got to see: A werewolf with a big Swarovski crystal in it's mouth. That was just plain cool.

He was even supposed to have unique shoes for every other number! That's practically unheard of since MJ almost never performed without jet black loafers!
 
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Had MJ survived and finished the This Is It tour, I think the Light Man suit would be the most valuble outfit in history for these reasons.

1. It's covered head-to-toe in precious Swarovski crystals.
2. It's the only one in existence.
3. It's stage worn by the King Of Pop himself on his long-awaited comeback tour.

It probably was going to be worth ten jillion dollars if that was the case.
 
Some of the costumes were amazing and others were gaudy. God only knows what Michael would've worn had he survived to perform the shows.
 
way wayyyy too much crystals and glimmer. I don't like when they go overboard with it. it's almost every costume?
the HTW jacket is stunning. I LOVE very colorful clothes like that, not a big fan of those metal things on it, though. but to perform in it? I don't know about that...as beautiful as it is, I don't really see it as a "performance jacket"
I like the Thriller jacket. I like when someone takes something classic and add their touch to it, as long as it looks good and keeps the classic look, and it's not too overdone. and I don't think it is
I like the Billie Jean outfit. again, it still has the classic look. BUT I don't like the whole light it up idea...I'm sure it would look impressive on stage, but to me, it's just a bit too much...
the WBSS jacket is ugly as hell. those big things on the shoulders are horrendous and looks just clumsy. and it's the most boring color ever (gray), covered with crystals?
and the t-shirt? can't even tell what the hell it's supposed to be? it's just a hot mess
and the loafers????? no just no :nono:
I don't like that the costumes for each song are so extreme...it's way too much, even for Michael
I'd rather see him perform in the clothes he had on at the rehearsals than any of this....
since we never saw Michael wear these outfits, we only have the way it's displayed here, to go by. I'm sure a lot of it wouldn't look that bad if he had it on...it also depends on the surroundings, the stage, the lighting, and sooo many other things. so maybe it's a bit unfair to judge it like this. but like I said, we have nothing else to go by....
 
I wasn't a fan of the new Billie Jean jacket with the crystals. The one that was used before looked a lot better.

Jacket
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These were great though
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I hated the Black Or White outfit. The simple white shirt, black trousers and knee pads worked much better
 
I love each and everyone of them. I don't know why Zaldy is hated by the fans, but Zaldy and Bush made some dope shit for This Is It. But, I have to agree with the majority here. The simple BOW outfit on the Dangerous and HIStory tour were great. It's simple, but iconic.

Does anyone know if these new jackets were worn during the rehearsals?
 
Doggone said:
I love each and everyone of them. I don't know why Zaldy is hated by the fans, but Zaldy and Bush made some dope shit for This Is It. But, I have to agree with the majority here. The simple BOW outfit on the Dangerous and HIStory tour were great. It's simple, but iconic.

Does anyone know if these new jackets were worn during the rehearsals?
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I don't think so. If I remember right Zaldy said that he was supposed to bring some of the costumes to the rehearsals on June 25.
 
I've only watched the "Extras" once, when I got the DVD and never again, so the only one I really remembered was "The Heal the World" one-which I liked-and the one from the Rocket Man opening one-so I pulled this up again just to take a look. A l0 lb. jacket would not work at all for Black or white-also not sure why they would re-do his loafers-just put the studs and spats on his regular Florsheims. But they all LOOK great. Anything is better than the fencing leotard.

If I had dressed Michael for a tour I would have stuck with the BAD look or the "Black or White" black pants, t-shirt and white shirt look.

Here it is from YouTube for anyone who doesn't remember or who has seen it.

 
Doggone said:
I love each and everyone of them. I don't know why Zaldy is hated by the fans, but Zaldy and Bush made some dope shit for This Is It. But, I have to agree with the majority here. The simple BOW outfit on the Dangerous and HIStory tour were great. It's simple, but iconic.

Does anyone know if these new jackets were worn during the rehearsals?
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hate is a strong word. I don't HATE him, or anyone for that matter. I don't know this guy, so how can I hate him? I'm just not a big fan of the obsession with crystal
 
It certainly would have been very interesting to see Michael perform in them. I'm also guessing many fans would have warmed up to anything he wore. I wonder if all of the costumes in that mini-doc were the absolute 'final' versions we would have seen?

I think Michael did have the gift to pull off wearing any kind of clothing though.
 
Graf said:
It certainly would have been very interesting to see Michael perform in them. I'm also guessing many fans would have warmed up to anything he wore. I wonder if all of the costumes in that mini-doc were the absolute 'final' versions we would have seen?

I think Michael did have the gift to pull off wearing any kind of clothing though.
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he sure did!! for example, the Dangerous tour outfit, the way he wears it, he's sooooo sexy
 
The costume meant for WBSS screamed Liberace to me, not Michael Jackson it has too many crystals and even though he loved wearing shiny/glittery outfits, Bush and Tompkins made them classy.
 
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I'm no fashion expert BY FAR, but I think that an outfit similar to the initial MSG 2001 outfit (all white with golden boots from the HIStory tour space suit) would make for a simpler, yet impressive Light Man suit. Maybe only have a few areas with a lot of crystals, such as the boots.
 
tacky²

especially those sharp shoulder pieces... wtf.
I guess there would have been changes to the final stage outfits though.
I don't think he would have performed in such messy assembled outfits.
 
I think most of the costumes seems to be too heavy for him to wear on stage
 
I also sooo like men in suits. We have a strict dress code at work and serious people in business suits also come to meetings and negotiations, but unfortunately sometimes a suit disfigures a person so much that it's just creepy...
 
Just ideas of images. Some would've worked but....(cough cough) I think my overall favorite was billie jean. Wbss.... I'd need to see it with my own eyes for myself to judge that. I like it but the shoulder pieces would have to go!
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I thought they were hit or miss, but the misses were unforgivably bad.

The “J5 Medley” suit is gorgeous, and I appreciate the old meets new design for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.” But the designs for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Man in the Mirror,” and “Heal the World” are terrible.

I like that Zaldy was trying to take MichaelÂ’s style and integrate it into something new and different, but he really overshot it.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I thought they were hit or miss, but the misses were unforgivably bad.

The “J5 Medley” suit is gorgeous, and I appreciate the old meets new design for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.” But the designs for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Man in the Mirror,” and “Heal the World” are terrible.

I like that Zaldy was trying to take MichaelÂ’s style and integrate it into something new and different, but he really overshot it.
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I agree some where ok and some would have been just embarrassing. The rehearsal outfits are better in my opinion.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I thought they were hit or miss, but the misses were unforgivably bad.

The “J5 Medley” suit is gorgeous, and I appreciate the old meets new design for “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.” But the designs for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Man in the Mirror,” and “Heal the World” are terrible.

I like that Zaldy was trying to take Michael’s style and integrate it into something new and different, but he really overshot it.
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Yeah the Heal the World jacket was just ugly as hell. A real "What were they thinking?" moment.

I liked the MITM one though; it looked like something he would normally wear.
 
I see all these designs as demo's. It feels like Michael hadn't decided on anything yet. The main reason I think it was all still in a design stage, is that a new outfit for every song seems unpractical. I think it was up to Michael to make some choices, but he never got to that. I also think Zaldy had a lot of fresh ideas (which is good), but Bush probably had more traditional MJ outfits designed. It's very typical for Michael to let several teams work on something, and then choose what he likes the most.
 
Michael Jackson was not going to wear many of these ZaldyÂ’s outfits because they were too heavy for his thin, gaunt body.

He also called Michael Bush to design outfits for him for these shows, because he did not like certain ZaldyÂ’s outfits that looked rather garish (this is also what Michael Bush revealed in his book).

That is why Michael Bush along with Dennis Tompkins started to create their own, lighter versions of ZaldyÂ’s outfits for the singer to wear for these shows.

For example, for ‘Black Or White’, they created a white shirt (that resembled the original outfit).

Or, for ‘Billie Jean’, they created a lighter jacket that would not light up.

Remember also that Zaldy came to work at the request of Travis Payne, not of Michael Jackson.
 
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